OKAMOTO
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS RESEARCH INSTITUTE
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- - Asia in the World, and Japan in
Asia - -
Last
revised and updated on August 20, 2008
--
click the emblem above for the Japanese
version --
We at Okamoto International
Affairs Research Isntitute work in partnership with FoE Japan in
launching the PARAP project in East Asia
offering the vital tools with which to deal with the risk of the
accelerating earth warming and the widening gap between the dwellers of
the big cities and the rural communities. Contact us at SECRETARIAT
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OUR PARAP SITE FOR VIDEO CLIP
EXCHANGE AND ASSISTANCE IS FINALLY UP AND RUNNING
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OUR SUPPORT
OF THE PAN-ASIAN
CRESCENT EXCHANGE PROGRAM
We are
determined to
support the projects locally initiated by small groups of individuals
in the rural communities of Asia in collaboration with their
counterparts in the urban centers of the world.
Rural Community in Alaska
The
selection of the
community will be made within the next few months
Rural
Community in the Russian
Far East
The
Bikin
river, an tributary of the Great Amoure which
runｓ north across the Maritime Province of the Russian Far East is
known to be the home of the Siberian tigers and the
Udehe
people who continue to live in harmony with the pristine Siberian
natural environment.
The riverside village of Krasny Yar is now making preparations to
participate in PARAP's environmental and cultural exchange project. The
Udehe people are
the descendants of the Jurchen and the Manchu peoples and thus share
the same
northern ancestral stock with us Japanese.
The PARAP project, once completed, promises to be a rural community
development model of the 21st century absolutely and totally friendly
to the environment.
Rural Community in Mongolia
The
selection of the
community will be made within the next few months
Rural Community in Korea
The
selection of the
community will be made within the next few months
Rural Community in China
The
selection of the
community will be made within the next few months
Rural Community in Nepal
The
selection of the
community will be made within the next few months
Rural Community in India
The
selection of the
community will be made within the next few months
Rural Community in Japan
The
selection of the
community will be made within the next few months
Rural Community in the U.S.
The
selection of the
community will be made within the next few months
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Welcome to the
VIDEO CONFERENCE
ROOM
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to reserve VIDEO
CONFERENCE ROOM
Members Only
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LET US MAKE THE YEAR 2008
THE 1ST YEAR OF
EAST ASIA'S NEW PARTNERSHIP ERA
December 1, 2007
Yutaka Okamoto
OKAMOTO
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS RESEARCH INSTITUTE
I have intimately observed the life of the American people during my
stay there for more than a quarter of a century starting from the early
days of the Kennedy Administration all the way through the Nixon and
Reagan years. And, as a result, I am of the opinion that America today
is approaching the thresholds into an entirely new era never
experienced since the New Deal years of the 1930s, a drastic change
that occurs once in a century.
The primary motive force is the increasingly more serious need for the
powerful nation states to defend and safeguard their global
politico-economic interests in the rapidly advancing age of economic
globalization. And, as it is becoming obvious today, this task often
demands a matching military deployment capability around the world. As
we know, the present US government has been involved in a global force
redeployment program, into which Japan's so-called "self defense
forces" seem to be being integrated, but, during the midterm elections
of the last fall, the American people clearly produced a "yellow card"
to their government's policy on Iraq War.
It is my strong feeling that this is another manifestation, after the
one I witnessed during the Vietnam War, that the people of the United
States continue to demonstrate their capability to learn from mistakes
and reinstate the values of democracy and freedom which are the central
historical heritage of the nation.
I experienced it intimately during the dark years of the Vietnam War
because I was in daily contact with the young Americans through my
eldest son who was just below the drafting age.
Respect for democracy and love of freedom were alive within each one of
them nurtured over the years in their family and community life. It was
not because they are "guaranteed by the Constitution" as it is the case
in Japan. In America, the people's own personal sense of commitment to
democracy and freedom is what upholds their Constitution.
Thus, I see a major change over the horizon this year. The United
States may opt to work with the EU countries along with such emerging
giants like Russia, China, India and Brazil, to form a new world order
to meet the radically diffferent need of the 21st century, or, it may
recoil itself once again, as it has in the past, in the world of
isolationism. As for me, I am much more inclined to say America will
take the first option.
END
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